Positive evaluation:
1. "Combining leniency with severity" in internal affairs, creating "prosperous times"
After Emperor Qianlong ascended the throne, he politically corrected his father's malpractice of combining leniency with severity, implemented the policy of "combining leniency with severity", reorganized official management, formulated various laws and regulations, and treated scholars with preferential treatment to appease the imperial clan attacked by Yongzheng Dynasty. Economically rewarding land reclamation and building water conservancy projects, the whole country is showing a trend of prosperity. The early and middle years of Qianlong were the most dynamic period in the political life of Emperor Qianlong, which was praised by later generations. Qianlong's greatest achievement in internal affairs is to continue to implement the policy of "spreading land into mu" and "returning land to flow" in Yongzheng period, to maintain the stability of the ruling top with personal prestige, and to achieve prosperity in the stable development of social economy. This period was also the most prosperous period of the Qing Dynasty.
2. Diplomatic "peerless martial arts", opening up territory.
He is most proud of his "peerless martial arts", so he calls himself "the perfect old man". The so-called "all-out martial arts" includes pacifying Junggar in the northwest twice, pacifying Xinjiang back to the headquarters twice, conquering Jinchuan in the southwest twice, pacifying Taiwan Province Lin Uprising once, going to Myanmar once, going to Vietnam once and going to Gurkha in Nepal twice. Military operations in the northwest have a great influence on history. During the Qianlong period, it was a good opportunity to encounter civil strife in Junggar, and decisively sent troops to capture Yili on 1755. However, Amur Sana, the nephew of Caldan Zero, surrendered and rebelled again. The Qing court sent troops for the second time in 1757, and finally completely wiped out the Junggar rebels. After Junggar was pacified, Uighur leaders Da, Xiao and Zhuomu returned to Xinjiang to instigate the Uighur ministries to fight against the Qing Dynasty. Gan Long was forced to fight the northwest for the third time. The war lasted for three years, and finally forced Yamato, Yamato and Zhuomu to flee abroad. Subsequently, Gan Long set up Ili generals, and set up counsellors and inspectors in Kashgar and other places, which greatly reduced the tax burden in Uygur areas. Northwest China1.90,000 land with centrifugal tendency has finally been unified under the central government, which is a great contribution of Qianlong to the history of China.
3. Sandwich "epitomizes", the peak of feudal culture.
The biggest highlight of the Qianlong period was cultural achievements besides "high martial arts". Gan Long himself is an enthusiastic literary lover and patron. It is said that he has written more than 40,000 poems himself, and he often writes poems in the scenic spots he visited. He is also a bibliophile. During his reign, he organized many large-scale cultural projects, including the compilation of four books, Qing Hui Dian, Zhouyi Shu, Huang Zhi, Eight Banners Tongzhi and other books. , and also reprinted the Thirteen Classics, Twenty-two History, Three Links and other books in the school magazine. The most striking thing is that in addition, A Dream of Red Mansions, the pinnacle of China's classical novels, was also born in the Qianlong period. Although it has nothing to do with Qianlong himself, it also adds luster to this era. During the Qianlong period, China's feudal culture reached its peak, and the degree of absolute monarchy reached its peak both ideologically and institutionally.
4. A generation of heroes
Emperor Qianlong was indeed a great master and a well-off emperor. In his later years, he was deeply intoxicated with the comparison with the emperors of past dynasties, and thought that not only were there few people who "won the integrity of the country, expanded the territory, obeyed the general public and guaranteed the safety of the people", but even his time in office, the number of years of life and the number of descendants were among the best. The feudal system reached the peak of history when Qianlong was in power. During his reign, Xinjiang and Mongolia were pacified, and Sichuan and Guizhou continued to return to their homeland. The population continued to increase, breaking through the 300 million mark, accounting for about one third of the world's population at that time, creating the last flourishing age of China's feudal society-"Kanggan flourishing age", and the powerful China stood in the east of the world. His 60-year stable rule maintained the last prosperous period of the feudal dynasty in China. He lived in an era in which China's feudal politics, economy and culture had been precipitated for a long time, and he himself became the general representative of all this.
Negative evaluation:
1. Daxing Wenzi Prison destroyed the foundation of Chinese civilization.
The characteristics of literary inquisition are: the crime is caused by the distorted interpretation of the text by power figures, and the evidence is also formed by the distorted interpretation of the text by power figures. Literary inquisition is the most powerful tool to destroy intellectuals. From the day the Qing Dynasty conquered China, the "literary inquisition" rose. When Shunzhi and Kangxi were in power, it was only an individual phenomenon, but when the five emperors Yongzheng were in power, it became a tyrannical "system". The craziest figure in the literary inquisition wave is Emperor Qianlong. The "literary inquisition" created by Qianlong is an "unwarranted" charge imposed on the literati. For example, Xu's "How can I turn over a book when the breeze can't read" is purely a rambling work describing the leisure life, which makes Qianlong misinterpret it as satirizing the illiteracy of the Qing government and pretending to be gentle. Daxing Literary inquisition in Qianlong burned many important cultural classics in China's history, which eclipsed its literary inquisition.
2. Spend six trips to the south of the Yangtze River to exhaust national strength and wealth.
Gan Long likes to visit the prosperous Jiangnan. Qianlong's grandfather Kangxi has been to Jiangnan six times, but the main purpose of Kangxi's trip to Jiangnan this time is to see the dikes and understand the sufferings of the people's livelihood in the southeast. Every time I was frugal, I visited in private in most cases, without disturbing or harassing the local people. Gan Long also visited Jiangnan six times, but his main purpose was to have fun and show off his greatness. The southern tour group of Qianlong is huge, with more than 10 thousand people every time. Everywhere you go, it is extremely extravagant and wasteful, the local supply is extremely gorgeous and spectacular, and people and money are robbed. In addition, Qianlong also invested heavily in the construction of the bustling Royal Garden "Yuanmingyuan" in the western suburbs of Beijing. The treasure of Chinese and foreign Wanli, the treasure of five thousand years, is displayed in the garden together for the emperor to play every day. Qianlong spent so much money that the "possessions" accumulated by Kangxi and Yongzheng were quickly exhausted.
3. Pretend to be flashy and overjoyed.
Emperor Qianlong was overjoyed. He liked people around him to praise his wisdom and greatness, and he liked others to praise his wisdom and talent. Emperor Qianlong's vanity is also reflected in the "diplomacy" of the empire. Gan Long's diplomatic philosophy can be summed up in two words: "Salute". All countries willing to pay tribute to China are poor and small countries. In order to encourage countries outside China to pay tribute to him, Emperor Qianlong gave a generous "reward" to the "vassal countries" who came to pay tribute, and the value of the reward was often ten times or even one hundred times that of the "tribute". For example, there is a giant Kandi kingdom between China and India that pays tribute to China once every three years, and pays 125 yuan of placer gold each time. China's reward is a mountain of silks and satins, silver coins and tea. If there is a profitable transaction in the world, it is to pay tribute to Emperor Qianlong. When neighboring countries discovered the benefits of paying tribute to Qianlong, they blackmailed China in the name of paying tribute, and threatened war to increase the amount of "tribute". Emperor Qianlong ignored the tax money of the people for vanity and "face", resulting in a large outflow of wealth from the Chinese empire.
4. What goes around comes around, and the big corrupt official, Xiao Shenyang, is reused.
Emperor Qianlong loved to flatter his subordinates, which directly led to the emergence of Xiao Shenyang, an unprecedented corrupt official in the history of China. Because of the special opportunity, Little Shenyang was trusted and reused by Emperor Qianlong, and handed over the administrative power of the empire to him in the later period of his rule. Little Shenyang is extremely clever, knowing the way of being an official, and playing with the self-righteous emperor Qianlong with disgusting flattery and disguise. The whole administrative ability of small Shenyang is corruption and power game. In return, he established an unprecedented corruption system throughout the country and hollowed out the foundation of the Qing Empire. State officials find that if they don't pay bribes to their superiors, they will be ruthlessly eliminated or even thrown into prison and have to adapt to this form. After the death of Qianlong, Xiao Shenyang also fell, and his property was confiscated, equivalent to 920 million silver, equivalent to the sum of the national fiscal revenue of 12 years. If you count the money he squandered and the money his relatives embezzled, the total amount should be no less than 20 years of fiscal revenue, while Xiao Shenyang has been in power for exactly 20 years.
Summary:
The early and middle years of Qianlong were the most dynamic period in the political life of Emperor Qianlong, which was praised by later generations. In the later period, the corrupt official Xiao Shenyang was favored, and Emperor Qianlong himself was old, which led to official corruption, graft and corruption, and cast a shadow over his brilliant life. When Qianlong was narcissistic, it was also the time when China slept the heaviest in the dream of "going to China". The strong ships and guns of European powers have been around China, trying their best to open the door to China. China, on the other hand, was bound by the seemingly "ultra-stable" social structure and ideological system, and the Qing Dynasty in the Qianlong period began to become synonymous with decay and backwardness. Although the Qing Dynasty and the prosperous period of Qianlong have become the background of history, Qianlong's role in maintaining China's territorial integrity and its civil affairs is still remarkable. No matter from which point of view, Emperor Qianlong was a born powerful emperor. His ancestors left him not only a vast territory and the accumulation of managing the world, but also the ideological basis for the emperor to take the world as his own. Gan Long's success lies in his most complete and full use of his strong position, combined with his excellent personal ability, and exerted great influence in all aspects. Only under the management of a completely powerful emperor will there be a peak of "great unification" of China's system and ideology and culture since 2000.